Type slug feeding, inking, and print control means in address printing machines



Nov. 1a, 1958 2,860,573

R. M. FOX TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL Filed April 11.1955 MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 7 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 -1. L. 3.1 A?km f u a 73 160 i 192 I HI'IH l 10 A 2 11a 3L 20 v 75 )1 521 f! I J17-J72 104' J2, 9 Q if? 2 .JQAyMA/es/JI'x,

INVENTOR.

Fiat

V 1958 R. M. FOX 2,860,573

TYPE swc FEEDING. INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESSPRINTINGMACH1NES r 7 Filed April 11. 1955 e Sheets-Sheet 2 RAY M42674.Fx,

IN V EN TOR.

R. M. Fox

Nov. 18, 1958 TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN'ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 11. 1955 N S I iN w 1mm mm Nov. 18, 1958 R. M. Fox 2,860,573 TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKINGAND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed April 11. 1955 0 Nil N\ J55 RAY Mwsw fi'x,

INVENTOR.

Nov. 18, 1958 R. M. FOX 2,860,573

TYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTINGMACHINES Filed April 11, 1955 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 m, x w Q. R% h m MN 0 r Ma W my W/ N m mm R S V s &\ w R mn\ & G g mm SN w. e d 1 x qi \N i A E NI 4 fig lrL a IIIRVIT Nb mm .u. AN 5, m M v All V1 A 0 M M c n M. FOXTYPE SLUG FEEDING, INKING AND PRINT CONTROL MEANS IN ADDRESS PRINTINGMACHINES Filed April 11. 1955 Nova 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 W wk UnitedStates Patent Ray Marsh Fox, Laguna Beach, Calif., assignor to TheDeskfinder Company, Costa Mesta, Calif., a corporation of CaliforniaApplication April 11, 1955, Serial No. 500,428

19 Claims. (Cl. 10157) This invention relates to improved printingpresses of a type adapted to print different individualized markings ona series of sheets of paper or the like. For instance, a press embodyingthe invention may be utilized to individualize a series of advertisingbrochures, blotters, circulars, or other papers, by printing the name ofeach customer on the particular item which is to be sent to him. Also,the press may be employed for printing, reserved seat numbers ordesignations on a set of theatre tickets. The present application is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Serial Number 302,380,filed August 2, 1952, on Printing Press Employing Constantly ChangingSlugs, now abandoned.

To allow for such individualizing of a series of printed items, I employas the printing elements a number of individual slugs of cast lead orother metal, such as are produced by conventional linotype or other slugcasting machines. These slugs are initially held as a group in a :supplymagazine, and are fed successively from the magazine to a printinglocation. Each of the slugs has a printing face to which ink is applied,and which is brought into contact at the printing location with one ofthe :sheets of paper to be printed, to print a desired marking on thepaper.

The magazine may be a channel like guideway, prefer- :ably forming aninclined chute. The slugs should be posi- .tioned in this guideway withtheir printing faces directed transversely of the direction of slugadvancement, so that the printing face of one slug is not engaged anddamaged by the next successive slug. Where the guide way is an inclinedchute, the slugs may all have their printing facesdirected upwardly. V

The slugs may besuccessively advanced laterally from :an end of themachine and to the printing location by a reciprocating feed member. orbar, which may be movtable along :a bed plate, and :with which theremaybe :associated an inking roller for applying ink to the slugs in thefeed chute. At the printing location, the work sheet may be held on asuitable support, preferably a plate tover'lying the printing slug andcontaining an aperture tthr-oug'h which an overhead platen or headcoacts withthe sing to perform a printing operation. The platen may besreciprocable ttoward and away from the printing slug to press a worksheet against the slug. Also, the work holding plate may itself beretracted preferably upwardly during each cycle of operation of themachine, to allow movement of a slug into printing position, 1 t

In utilizing a press of this type, it is highly important that no slugbe passed through the machine without having performed a printingoperation, i. e. without having impressed the'desired marking on one ofthe work sheets. Consequently, a further feature of the inventionresides .in the provision of means for automatically preventing :a slugfrom being passed through the apparatus when there is no work sheet atthe printing location. For this purpose, I employ a control system whichis responsive to positioning of a sheet of paper at the printinglocation, and will stop the machine short of a printing operaice tion ifno such sheet is present. This control system may include an electricalcontact which is electrically engageable with a work supporting plate,and is held out of engagement with that plate when a paper is placed onthe plate of the printing location. This contact may be connected inseries with a second contact which is responsive to movement of a slugtoward printing location, so that if a slug moves toward that locationwhere no paper is in printing position, the apparatus will stop.

An additional feature of the invention has to with an improved type ofguide or stop structure for properly positioning a work sheet on theworksupporting plate. This guide structure may include a plurality ofguide elements against which the work sheet may abut and which areselectively connectible into any of a large number of different openingsin the plate, to allow for the positioning of the guides for holdingdifferent sizes of paper sheets. An additional and more preciseadjustment of the guides may be attained by mounting each of the guideelements for individual eccentric adjusting movement relative to theplate when connected into any one of the apertures.

The above and other features and objects of the present invention willbe better understood from the following detailed description of thetypical embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a printing machine constructed in accordancewith the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. l, but showing the printinghead in its upwardly retracted position;

Fig. 5 is a plan view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of .Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section through the adjustable cam follower unitfor actuating the printing head;

Fig. 9 is a view taken on line 99 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged perspective view of the contact unit whichsupports the work holding plate;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan view, partially broken away, of the slugengaging electrical contact;

Fig. 12 is a section taken on line 1212 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the electrical contact whichengages the work holding plate;

Fig. 14 is a view taken essentially on line 1414 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of one of the workguides carried by the work supporting plate;

Fig. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary partially sectional view taken online 16-46 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary perspective View showing certainof the parts ofthe slug feeding mechanism;

Fig. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of thehorizontally movable carriage;

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary perspective view of the slug ejectingapparatus;

Fig. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary end view, partially broken away, ofthe base plate, horizontal carriage guide structure, and associatedparts;

Fig. 21 is a diagramrepresenting the electrical control circuit of theapparatus;

' 22 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the cast printing slugs;

Fig. 23 is an exploded perspective of the forward portion of the slugfeed chute;

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of the feed bar;

Fig. 25 is a section taken on line 25-25 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 26 is a section taken on line 2626 of Fig. 4.

The printing press represented in the drawings utilizes as the actualprinting elements a series of conventional linotype slugs (see Fig. 22)cast from lead alloy by a conventional linotype or other machine. Eachof the slugs 10 is elongated, and is typically represented as of solidrectangular configuration, though the present apparatus is also adaptedto handle slugs whose bodies may contain any of various types ofrecesses for reducing the amount of metal required for each slug. Alongthe upper elongated surface of each slug, there are formed the raisedletters or other markings, 11 which are to be used for printing a pieceof paper, cardboard, or other work material.

A series of differently impressioned slugs 10 are placed in an inclinedelongated chute 12, with their printing faces 11 directed upwardly awayfrom the bottom of the chute, and are successively and individuallyejected laterally from the lower portion of that chute by areciprocating feed bar 13. On each operation, this feed bar 13 displacesthe lower one of the slugs 10 in chute 12 to the left as seen in Figs. 1and 6 and to a location beneath an opening 14 in a work supporting plate15. Prior to the time that an individual slug reaches this printinglocation beneath opening 14, an operator places a piece of paper orother sheet of work material on plate 15 at the location of opening 14.As the slug reaches its printing location beneath opening 14, plate 15swings downwardly through a short distance, and a printing head 17 movesdownwardly to press the paper 16 against the slug to thus mark the paperas desired. Prior to its lateral ejection, the slug has been inked by aninking roller 18, which receives its supply of ink from a plate 19.After delivery of a slug to the printing location, feed bar 13 returnsto the right as seen in Fig. 1 to engage and displace the nextsuccessive slugs. Also, after heat 17 has performed a printingoperation, this heat retracts upwardly, as does plate 15 through a shortdistance. The operator may then remove paper 16, and place a secondpaper on plate 15 to be printed by the next slug. As each slug movesinto printing position, the feed bar displaces the previous slug fartherto the left to a location from which it may subsequently fall into aforwardly extending discharge tray or trough 20, within which theaccumulated used slugs are progressively advanced forwardly by anejector member 21.

The various working parts of the machine are carried by a stationaryrigid frame,'which includes two parallel spaced vertically extending andsimilarly shaped leg members 22. Between upper portions of these legmembers, there extends a forwardly inclined rigid plate-like framemember 23, which is rigidly secured in any suitable manner to legs 22.At its upper end, member 23 has an integrally formed cross piece or head24, to whose inclined upper surface 25 there is attached a bed plate 26,this attachment typically being effected by a number of screws 27 (seeFig. 4). Bed plate 26 extends across substantially the entire width ofthe machine (from left to right as seen in Figs. 1, 6, and 17), and isinclined downwardly and forwardly. This bed plate acts as a support formany of the moving parts of the apparatus.

The slug feeding chute 12 includes a fiat sheet metal member 28 which isattached at its lower end by screws 29 to the upper side of a centralportion of base plate 26 (see Figs. 17 and 23). The sheet metal floormember 28 of chute 12 extends rearwardly and upwardly at an inclinationcorresponding to the inclination of base plate 26. The slugs arepositioned in chute 12 in parallel relation, with the slugs extendingtransversely across the chute, and with each slug resting angularlydownwardly against the next lower slug. At its left side, the sheetmetal floor member 28 of chute 12 has an upturned flange 30, whichmovably carries an adjustable side wall 31 for engaging and positioningthe left ends of the slugs. Wall 31 extends longitudinally of the troughand is guided for only longitudinal adjusting movement by screws 32attached to wall 31 and extending through longitudinally extending slots33 in flange 30. One or more of these screws 32 is adapted to betightened to releasably retain wall 31 in any desired position relativeto flange 30. This longitudinal adjustment of wall 31 allows foradjustment of the width of a gap or space 34 (see Fig. 11) between thelower or forward end of wall 31 and later-to-be-described member 35,through which gap the slugs 10 are ejected laterally from the chute tothe printing location. As will be apparent, adjustment of wall 31 towardor away from member 35 allows for passage of different thickness slugsthrough the space 34 and to the printing location, and also assures thatfor any particular thickness of slug the lower portion of wall 31 willbe so positioned as to prevent the simultaneous ejection of more thanone slug from the chute and to the printing location.

Along the right side of chute 12, there is provided a second side wall36, which is spaced from and parallel to first side wall 31. This secondwall 36 is carried by a mounting bracket 37, which projects laterallyand forwardly to a location beneath bed plate 26. Bracket 37 contains anelongated slot 38 extending transversely with respect to chute 12, andthrough which there extends an adjusting screw 39 connected intotheunderside of bed plate 26. When screw 39 is loosened, bracket 37 and thecarried side wall 36 of the chute may be adjusted laterally toward andaway from side wall 31, as permitted by slot 38, to thus vary the widthof the feed chute between walls 31 and 36. This allows for adjustment ofthe chute width to correspond to the different lengths of variousdifferent sized linotype slugs.

The righthand side wall 36 is also capable of adjustment longitudinallyof the chute and between two differ ent positions, this adjustment beingeffected by virtue of the provision in bracket 37v of a pair of openings40, adapted to register with a pair of openings 40a in one position ofthe wall 36, or with a second pair of openings 41a in wall 36 in asecond slightly longitudinally offset position of wall 36. Thisadjustment allows for varying the spacing 42 between the lower end ofwall 36 and the previously mentioned member 35 (see Fig. 6) toaccommodate either of two different widths of feed bar 13, for handlingdifferent size slugs. Each of these different sizes of feed bar 13 iscapable of harm-- dling several different sizes of slugs, so that theprovision of two different feed bars allows for handling by theapparatus of virtually any conventional size of slug.

Referring now to Fig. 16, the slug feeding chute 12 is supported alongthe center of its underside by a support member 43, which is suitablyattached as at 44 to the frame of the apparatus. This figure also showsa swinging stop member 45, comprising a bell' crank pivoted by a screw46 for swinging movement about an axis extending transversely of chute12. Crank 45 has one arm extending generally parallel to the undersideof chute 12, and carrying a number of pins 48 which are capable ofprojecting upwardly through registering apertures 49 in the floor ofchute 12. When crank 45 is swung in a counterclockwise direction as seenin Fig. 16, pins 48 extend upwardly through openings 49 to the brokenline position of that figure, in which position the pins are adapted toretain the forwardmost slug in the chute against movement forwardly,beyond the po sition of slug 10a of Figs. 5 and 17. Crank 45 is adaptedto be swung between its full line retracted position of Fig. 16 and itsbroken line active position by a swinging control arm 50, which ispivoted to the frame of the machine at 5 1, and has an arcuate recess 52within whichfthe end of the downwardly projecting arm 53 of crank 45 isreceived. Recess 52 is defined at its opposite ends by a pair ofshoulders 54 and 55, which engage sides of crank arm 53 to actuate andcrank belWCcn its two positions. An overcenter spring 56 is connected atits opposite ends of screw 46 and to arm 50 at 57, and acts toyieldingly retain crank 45, arm 50, and pins 48 in either their activeor inactive positions. This overcenter action of spring 56 is of courseobtained by positioning part 57 to whichthe spring is attached in amanner such that this pin moves past a center position of alinement withpivot points 46 and 51 in shifting crank 45between its two positions.The purpose of the slug stopping structure represented in Fig. 16 is tohold the slugs out of a position for feeding to the printing locationwhen the machine is first started, to permit proper inking of the lowerslugs before they are allowed to print.

The feed bar 13 is horizontally elongated, and along most of its lengthis rectangular in vertical section. This feed bar 13 rests on, andextends and moves along, the lower edge portion of bed plate 26. Thepath of movement of said bar 13 extends directly transversely across thelower end of feed chute 12, so that the feed bar may successivelydisplace the slugs laterally from the forward end of the chute to theprinting location.

In order that leftward movement of the feed bar may effect correspondingleftward movement of a forward slug 1% in chute 12, the left end portionof feed bar 13 contains a rectangular recess 58, which extends forwardlyinto the rear side of the feed bar, and also opens toward the left endof the feed bar. Recess 58 is defined along its forward side by a wallextending directly transversely of chute 12, and extending directlyperpendicularly with respect to the bottom wall 28 of the chute. At itsright end, recess 58 is defined by a shoulder 59 which extendstransversely of feed bar 13, and therefore extends directly parallel toside walls 31 and 36 of the chute. The recess58 is of a length to extendacross the entire width of chute 12. As feed bar 13 moves to the left asseen in Fig. 17, and assuming that stop pins 48 are retracted, theforwardmost slug in chute 12 is received within recess 58 in the feedbar, so that shoulder 59 at the end of the recess abuts against the leftend of that lowermost slug and causes the slug to be displaced laterallyfrom the feed chute and to the printing location as a result of theleftward movement of the feed bar.

As the feed bar moves to the left, it moves along the rear side of thepreviously mentioned member 35. This member 35 is elongated and ofrectangular transverse section, and is attached by screws 60 (see Fig.4) to the forward edge of bed plate 26. Member35 projects upwardlybeyond the upper surface of bed plate 26, to act as a guide for feed bar13 and the laterally ejected slugs. Member 35 extends laterally from theleft end offthe machine to a location directly forwardly of the farthestposition to the right to which chute wall 36 is movable. Near its rightend, member 35 rotatably carries a roller 61, which is received in arecess in the upper side of member .35 and is rotatable about an axisextending perpendicularly to bed plate 26. The rear portion of roller 61projects slightly beyond the rear side of member 35, to engage theforward surface of feed bar 13, and thus serve as a low friction bearingfor the feed bar during its horizontal movement.

After the feed bar and a carried slug have moved to the left to the endof the feed bar travel, and after the slug has been caused to perform aprinting operation by virtue of downward movement of printing head 17,the feed bar 13 then returns to the right to engage the next successiveslug in the chute. During such rightward movement of feed bar 13, theslug which has just performed a printing operation is retained againstreturning movement with the feed bar by means of a re- .ing movementabout an axis perpendicular to the base plate. This hook is sufficientlyheavy to be normally .urged by gravity to the forward or lower positionrepresented in Fig. 6. Along its right side as seen in that figure, hook63 has an angular cam surface 64 which is engaged by a slug as it movesto the left with feed bar 13, so that the slug deflects hook 62 upwardlyto allow the slug to pass the downwardly extending end of that hook.When the feed bar starts its rightward movement on a return stroke, thetransverse shoulder 65 at the left side of hook 62 engages the right endof the slug to hold it against rightward movement with the feed bar. Inorder to allow the hook to thus engage the right end of the slug, thefeed bar has a groove or elongated recess 66 formed and extendinghorizontally along the vertically central portion of its rear side,andextending rightwardly from recess 58, so that the lower portion of hook62 may fit Within this recess or groove 66 for engaging and holding theslug.

To the left beyond the slug engaging portion of hook 62, there isattached to base plate 26 a defiectible guide member 66, which isattached to the base plate for movement toward and away from member 3 5,the attachment being effected by a pair of screws 67 connected into baseplate 26 and extending through slots 68 in member 66. Element 66 has aforward upturned flange 69, presenting an angularly extending entrancethroat or camming portion 70 which a slug being advanced to the left bythe feed bar engages, to deflect element 66 rearwardly or upwardly. Theslug and feed bar are received between flange 69 and member 35 at theend of a feed bar stroke, and at that time are located directly beneathopening 14 and work supporting plate 15. After a printing operation hasbeen effected with the first slug in place, and after the feed bar hasreturned to the right, element 66 is urged forwardly by gravity, to holdthe slug against member 35; and upon the movement of the next successiveslug into printing position, the leading end of feed bar 13 displacesthe first slug farther to the left and to a location above a recess 71in base plate 26, through which recess the slug subsequently fallsdownwardly between elements 72 and 35 into discharge tray 20 (whenpermitted by retraction of ejector 21, as will later appear). Guide 72has a flange 73 at its forward side turned downwardly to direct theslugs as they fall into discharge tray 20. Guide 72 is adjustablymounted by screws 74 attached to the base plate and extending throughslots in element 72. The adjustment of guide element 72 toward and awayfrom member 35 allows for adjustment of this portion of the apparatus toreceive different size slugs.

The slug discharge tray20 (see Figs. 17 and 19) comprises a horizontallyextending channel shaped member projecting forwardly from a locationbeneath guide 72. On each operation of the machine, the slugs that havealready accumulated within tray 20 are displaced forwardly a shortdistance to provide for reception of the next successive slug, so thatthe slugs are accumulated within tray 26 in a parallel series, and withtheir printing faces all directed upwardly and out of engagement, andthus in the same condition and sequence as that in which they wereoriginally held within feed chute 12. As seen best in Fig. 1, dischargetray 20 may be inclined downwardly toward one of its sides, to assurethat all of the slugs will move toward that side of the tray and thusinto properly alined relation one with the other.

The slug feeding bar 13 is reciprocated horizontally by means of ahorizontally moving carriage 75 (Fig. l) which is movable along a pairof parallel horizontally extending spaced guide rails 76. As seen. inFigs. 3, l8 and 20, these guide rails 76 may be of square transversesection, and carriage 75 includes a part 77 which is confined betweenrails 76 and acts to partially embrace those rails in a mannereffectively guiding part 77 for only longitudinally sliding movementrelative to rails 7 6. The

upper of the two horizontal rails 76 may be located near th forward edgeof bed plate 26, while the second rail second portion received betweenflattened parallel end portions 80 of rails 76. This latter portion ofmounting bracket 78 may be attached to the ends 80 of the guide rails bymeans of screws 81.

At their left ends, rails 76 may be attached to base plate 26 by asecond mounting bracket 82, which may be constructed essentially thesame as the previously described bracket 78. At the right side ofbracket 82, there may be carried a bumper element 83, typically formedof rubber, which is engaged by the left end of carriage member 77 at theend of each leftward stroke of the carriage, to limit the movement ofthe carriage. To describe the carriage part 77 somewhat morespecifically, it may comprise two horizontally spaced head portions 84and 85 engaged and guided by rails 76, with a reduced dimensionhorizontal portion 86 extending between and rigidly interconnectingthese two heads. The bumper 83 acts to engage a directly transverse endsurface 87 of one of these heads 84 (see Fig. 18, which is a rearperspective view of part 77 and the guide rails).

In addition to part 77, the horizontally movable carriage 75 includes asecond part 88, which is rigidly attached to part 77 by screws 89. Part88 projects upwardly from part 76 at the forward side of the guiderails,

' and carries at its rear side a connector member 90 (see Fig. 6), whichforms the connection between carriage 75 and feed bar 13. Connectormember 90 may be a casting having a relatively thin portion 91-attachedat one end by a screw 92 to carriage part 88, and having an enlargedportion 93 at its opposite end which carries a pin 94 selectivelyreceivable within any of a series of transverse recesses 95 (see Fig.24) formed at spaced locations along the underside of the right endportion of feed bar 13. Pin 94 has a diameter substantially equal to thewidth of slots 95, so that when the pin is received in any of theseslots a positive connection is formed between the carriage 75 and feedbar 13. Positioning of the feed bar so-that pin 94 is received withinthe different slots 95 effects an adjustment in the positioning of thefeed bar, so that the feed bar may be positioned to pick up any ofdifferent lengths of slugs from the feed chute 12, or to place slugsshorter than maximum length in a variety of positions under platen 154.That is, if pin 94 is received within a left one of the slots 95, asseen in Fig. 3, the feed bar will move to the right as far as possible,to thus pick up from the feed chute the longest possible slug for whichthe machine is adapted. For shorter slugs, pin 94 may be positionedwithin others of the slots 95. The feed bar may be adjusted relative topart 90 by merely lifting the right end of the feed bar and then lettingit drop with pin 94 received in the desired slot 95.

Connector part 90 is purposely made as a sheer or fracture part, whosethinnest portion 91 is sufiiciently weak to break before any of theother parts of the slug displacing mechanism, in the event the mechanismbecomes jammed or for other reasons bar 13 will not advance properly. Inthis case, part 90 breaks, to protect the rest of the portions of theapparatus against damage. The entire apparatus may then be repaired bymerely correcting the difficulty which has caused the jamming condition,and then replacing only the sheer part 90. Preferably, sheer part 90 isformed of cast aluminum.

The horizontal carriage 75 and other parts of the apparatus are powerdriven by a continuously operating electric motor 96 (see Fig. 1)typically attached to the frame by a stand 97 carried by a rod 98extending between the lower portions of the legs 22. The shaft of motor96 carries a pulley 99, which drives a flywheel 100 by means of anendless belt 101. Flywheel 100 is rotatably mounted at the right side ofright leg 22, by means of a shaft 102 extending through an opening inthe leg 22 and journaled within bearing 103 attached to the oppositeside of the leg (see Fig. 14). A vertically extending essentiallycircular housing or cover member 104 may extend across the outer side offlywheel 100, and be suitably attached to the leg 22 by screws 105 and44 (Fig. 2).

At the rear of frame member 23, shaft 102 drives an electric clutchmember 106 (Fig. 14), Whose output in turn drives a reduction gear 107.Clutch 106 is controlled by opening and closing of an electricalcircuit, which includes two contact elements 108 and 109 electricallyengaging two slip rings 110 and 111 on the clutch. When the circuit tocontacts 108 and 109 is closed, the resulting energization of'clutch 106causes the clutch to transmit power to reduction gear 107. Breaking ofthe circuit to contacts 108 and 109 of course breaks the driveconnection through the clutch to reduction gear 107 (see Fig. 21).

Referring now to Fig. 4, the reduction gear 107 at the rear side ofmember 23 drives a shaft 112 which extends forwardly and downwardly atan inclination corresponding to that of bed plate 26, and through a bore113 in member 23. At the forward side of member 23, the rotativelydriven shaft 112 carries and drives a wheel 114, whose outer peripheralportion 115 (Fig. 1) is pivotally and eccentrically connected to aconnector rod 116 at 117. Connecting rod 116 is attached at its oppositeend by means of a lost motion connection to the horizontally movingcarriage 75, to effect horizontal reciprocation of carriage 75 inaccordance with the rotary motion of Wheel 114.

The connection between rod 116 and carriage 75 includes a U-shapedbracket 118, having a first portion 119 which is pivotally attached by ascrew 120 to the forward face of head 85 of carriage member 77. A pairof spaced parallel arms 121 project forwardly and downwardly fromportion 119 of part 118, and contain alined openings 122 through whichthreaded rod 123 slidably extends. Rod 123 is threadedly connected intothe end of, and forms in effect an extension of, connecting rod 116. Atits right end, threaded rod 123 has an enlarged diameter head 124 with acoil spring 125 being provided about rod 123 and bearing at its oppositeends against one arm of element 118 and head 124. Spring 125 ispreferably at all times under compression, to yieldingly urge part 118to the left relative to connecting rod 116, 123, and against a stop nut126 (Fig. 3) which is carried at a fixed location on rod 123.Preferably, rod 123 is adjustable longitudinally relative to rod 116 byvirtue of the threaded connection between these parts.

Nut 126 is adjusted along rod 123 to a position at which, with part 118held against the nut by spring 125, the bumper 83 (see Fig. 3) willengage part 77 and thus halt the leftward movement of carriage 75slightly before the connecting rod 116 has reached its extreme leftwardposition during a slug displacing operation. When bumper 83 thus stopsthe leftward movement of carriage 75, the further leftward movement ofconnecting rod 116 causes that rod to move a short distance to the leftrelative to carriage 75 and part 118 which is attached to the carriage.This relative motion is effected against the tendency of spring 125, andserves to partially compress that spring. In Fig. 3, the specifiedrelative displacement between the connecting rod and part 118 isrepresented by the very small gap 127. Thus, at the very end of the slugfeeding stroke of carriage 75 and feed bar 13, the carriage and bar, aswell as the carried slug, remain entirely stationary for a shortinterval even through wheel 114 and the connecting rod continue to move.It is during this interval that the head 17 completes its motiondownwardly into engagement with the paper 16 on plate 15, and causes theslug held by the feed bar 13 to print the desired impression on theunderside of the paper. The manner in which -130 in parallel relation tobed plate 26.

this movement of the head is effected will be described at a laterpoint.

On each leftward movement of carriage 75, ink is applied to a lowergroup of the slugs within chute 12 (Fig. 1) by means of roller 18. Thisroller 18, as well as two ink distributing rollers 128 and a handle 129,are all carried by a plate 130 which is movably attached to carriage 75.Plate 130 is attached to part 88 of the carriage by means of a pair ofspaced screws 131 rigidly attached to and projecting upwardly frommember 88 in parallel relation. Screws 131 extend through a pair ofoversized openings within plate 130, with a pair of coil springs 132received about the screws and urging plate 130 upwardly toward heads 133of the screws. Roller 18 is rotatably carried by a shaft 134 projectingrearwardly from plate Ink distributing rollers 128 are similarly mountedabout shafts 135 which extend angularly toward the left and right sidesrespectively of the machine as they extend rearwardly and upwardly. Therollers 18 and 128 all rest on the conventional inking plate 19, whichis mounted on the upper side of bed plate 26 to the right of feed chute12.

As carriage 75 moves to the left on each cycle of operation, roller 18picks up ink from plate 19 and rolls the ink onto a lower group of theslugs in chute 12. For this purpose, the upper surface of inking plate19 is laterally alined with the upper printing faces of the slugs in thelower portion of thechute. The same movement of carriage 75 causesrollers 128 to distribute ink evenly over the inking pad 19, by virtueof the angular mounting of these rollers. The weight of the rollers andplate 130 is sufiiciently great to partially compress springs 132 innormal operation, so that the rollers are somewhat resiliently supportedand yet some of their weight actuallyrests on the inking plate andslugs.

When the machine is not in use, it is desirable to hold rollers 18 and128 in an upper retracted position out of engagement with inking plate19, since these rollers are of a very soft and deformable material suchas is customarily used for this purpose. To thus hold the rollers inretracted positions, handle 129 is mounted for axial movement withinbore 136 in plate 130, and when the handle is actuated forwardly withinthat bore (with plate 130 held in an upper position against screw heads133), the forward end of handle 129 is received above and engages a lug137 on member 88, in a manner releasably holding the plate and handle intheir upper retracted positions (see broken lines in Fig. 20). Handle129 may be yieldingly urged toward an inactive rearward position by thecoil spring 138, and may be retained in its forward active position by adetenting reception of head 1290 on handle 129 within a recess or notch137a in lug 137.

The work supporting plate is flat or planer and formed of anelectrically conductive material, such as chrome plated steel. Theopening 14 in this plate through which the printing is effected iselongated laterally and typically of rectangular configuration, and isof the size to allow for handling of any of the various sizes of slugswhich may be encountered. Aperture 14 is of course located directlyabove the position in which the slugs are held during printing, that isa position between flange 69 and member 13 in Fig. 6. There are formedin plate 15 a large number of small circular openings 140, which extenddirectly through the plate and are alined in closely spaced'rowsextendingboth transversely across and from frontto rear along plate 15.These openings 140 are all threaded, so that there may be threadedlyconnected into any of these openings a screw 141 for attaching to theupper side of the plate 15 a work guide element 142 (see Figs. 1 and15). Several of these work guide members 142 are employed, usually threeas seen in Fig. l, and these elements serve as stops against which thepaper or cardboard .16 is positioned for a printing operation.

The provision of a large number of the openings 140 in. the plate 15allows for positioning of the various stops 142 at any of numerousdifferent locations for acconinid dation of different sizes and shapesof work pieces. Also, a further adjustment in the positioning ofelements 142 is allowed by forming these elements of cylindricalconfiguration, and then providing bores 143 for passing screws 141downwardly through elements 142 at eccentric locations. Thus, each ofthe guides 142 may be rotatably adjusted about its attaching screw 141to vary the position of the work engaging surface of that element 142.Preferably, the adjustment thus afforded by rotation of the variouselements 142. is sufficiently great to allow for a continuous minuteadjustment of the edge of the paper between. any pair of the adjustedpositions allowed bya change in position of a screw 141. For thispurpose, .the difference between the smallest radius r and the largestradius R of each eccentric element 142 is equal to at least one half thedistance d between successive apertures in plate 15 (see Fig. 15).

The rear or upper portion of work supporting plate 15 is positioned onthe machine by means of an electrically non'conductive elongatedmounting member 144, which extends along and is rigidly attached to (asby screws 145) the upper edge portion of bed plate 26. Along its upperside, member 144 (see Fig. 10) carries an electrically conductive stripof metal 146, which has a pair of upwardly projecting electricallyconductive pins 147 near its opposite ends receivable within a pair ofopenings 148 in the upper edge portion of plate 15. Conductor 146 andthe rear portion of plate 15 are electrically insulated from the rest ofthe machine by means of the resinous plastic element 144. Member 146 isconnected by a wire 149 to a slug engaging contact 150 whoseconstruction. and functioning will be discussed at a later point. Pins147 form an electrical contact between element 146 and plate 115, andare a somewhat loose fit within openings 148 to allow a limited upwardmovement of the lower or forward portion of plate 15 for passing theslugs into printing positionbeneath opening 14. That is, plate 15 swingsslightly upwardly about essentially an axis defined by the elements 146and 147 to which its upper end i movably attached.

The printing head 17 is carried by an elongated rigid member 151 whichextends angularly upwardly and forwardly at the forward side of framemember 23 (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4). Member 151 has an upper rearwardlycurving portion 152, which rigidly carries a transverse element 153forming a portion of printing head.17. A platen member 154 is adjustablyattached to the underside of element 153, and has an elongated portion155 dimensioned to be at least as large in a plane parallel to bed plate26 as is the largest slug 10 for which the apparatus is designed. Thisportion 155 of platen ele.- ment 154 carries a tympan sheet 156, whichis removably and tightly clamped in any suitable manner to part 155 in aposition of extension across its underside. The underside of the tympanpaper bears downwardly against the paper 16 during the printingoperation, to press that paper 16 against the inked upper surface of aslug 10, to cause the slug to print on the undersurface of the paper 16.Platen member 154 is adjustable relativejto element 153, this adjustmentbeing allowed by virtue of a number of studs 157 rigidly attached to andprojecting upwardly from element 154. Studs 157 movably extend throughopenings 158 in head element 153, with nuts 159 being threadedly carriedabout studs 157 and tightenable against the upper and lower sides ofelement 153 to retain the studs and platen element 154 in any adjustedposition relative to head153. This adjustment allows for regulation ofthe positioning, of platen head 154 in its lowermost position, to assurea proper printing action. 1

Member 151 and its carried printing head 17 are mounted for upward anddownward reciprocal move- 11 ment parallel to member 23 and at rightangles to bed plate 26. Such mounting of member 151 and head 17 iseffected by means of a pair of inclined spaced parallel guide rails 160,whose construction is similar to the previously discussed horizontalrails 76, and which are attached at their lower ends to a frame carriedbracket 161 at 162 (Fig. 2) and are attached at their upper ends as byscrews 163 to a forward portion of head 24 of member 23. As best seen-inFig. 7, member 151 carries near its upper end a rearwardly projectingguide enlargement 164, having oppositely facing right angle recesses165embracing the inner sides of the two guide rails 160. At its lower end,member 151 carries a second rearwardly projecting enlargement 166 havingguide recesses shaped the same as those shown at' 65 in Fig. 7, so thatprojection 164 and 166 act to guide member 151 for sliding movementlongitudinally on guide rails 160. Member 151 is yieldingly urgedupwardly to its retracted Fig. 4 position by .a coil spring 167, whichbears upwardly against the underside of projection 164, and bearsdownwardly against an enlarged lower head 168 on a rod 169 receivedwithin the spring. Rod 169 extends upwardly through the spring andthrough an opening 170 in projection 164, and rigidly connects toportion 24 of member 23 at 171.

Member 151 is actuated downwardly on each cycle of operation of themachine by means of the wheel 114, whose peripheral portion 115 presentsa radially outwardly facing cam surface 172 (Fig. 1). This cam surfaceengages and actuates a cam follower roller 173 (Figs. 4 and 8), which isrotatively carried at the end of an elongated shaft like member 174.This shaft like member 174 has an externally cylindrical portion 175extending through a cylindrical transverse bore 176 in the lowerenlarged portion 166 of member 151, and carrying a rotary handle member177 at its forward end. At its rear end, element 174 has an externallycylindrical portion 178 carrying roller 173 and which is eccentric withrespect to the rest of element 174, so that rotation of the latterwithin bore 176 adjusts cam follower 173 upwardly and downwardlyrelative to member 151. This adjustment affords a very quick and easyregulation of the lowermost position to which head 17 is actuated by camwheel 114, to compensate for different thicknesses of work sheets 16. Aset screw 179 is tightenable against element 174 to retain it in anydesired adjusted position. As will be apparent, element 174 extendsthrough portion 166 of member 151 at a location between the two guiderails 160.

Upwardly beyond its guide rail engaging projection 164, member 151adjustably carries an externally cylindrical electrically non-conductiveroller 180 (see Fig. 4), which may be formed of a suitable rigidnon-conductive resinous plastic material, and which acts to position andvertically displace the lower or forward edge portion of 1 worksupporting plate 15. As seen best in Fig. 26, this member 180 is carriedabout an eccentric portion 181 of a screw 182 which is connected tomember 151 and is adapted to be tightened by a nut 183 to a conditionretaining the screw against rotation. A will be apparent, screw 182 maybe loosened and then adjusted to vary the position at which plate 15 isheld relative to member 151, the screw being held in any adjustedposition by tightening of nut 183. Roller 180 engages the underside ofplate 15, and supports plate 15 in a manner such that it is electricallyinsulated from every part but contact 146 and pins 147.

The cam surface 172 of wheel 114 preferably extends at a constant andreduced diameter along most of its circular extent, and progressivelyrises to an enlarged diameter at only one localized area 184 (see Fig.3). When cam follower 173 is engaged by this raised portion 184 of thecam surface, member 151 and printing head 117 are cammed downwardly topress paper 16 across a slug 10 at the printing location. This downwardmovement simultaneously allows downward movement of work supportingplate 15 to a printing position in which .the upper surface of plate 15is substantially alined laterally with the uppermost portion of theprinting face of the slug. During all other portions of a cycle ofoperations, that is, while the cam follower is in engagement With thereduced diameter portion of cam surface 172, the head 17 and plate 15are in their upwardly retracted positions, to allow movement of a sluginto printing position, and to allow the positioning of a work sheet onplate 15 by the operator. Preferably, wheel 114 turns in acounterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 3. The cam follower 173 ofcourse engages the raised portion 184 of cam surface 172, for effectinga printing operation, only while carriage 75 is in and near its leftmostposition, so that the feed bar 13 and a carried slug will be in properprinting position. At this point, it should be noted that the verticalheight of the slugs is substantially greater than the vertical height offeed bar 13, member 35, and guide flange 69, so that these latter partswill not interfere with the movement of plate 15 downwardly to itsprinting position.

The part 21 for shifting the slugs forwardly within discharge tray 20(see Fig. 19) is a sheet metal element having an upper horizontallyextending portion 192 onto which a slug first falls after reaching theend of its horizontal travel, and a forward downturned slug engagingportion 193 which extends downwardly within tray 20 to locations nearits bottom and side walls. The upper horizontal portion 192 of part 21is attached by screws 194 at its rear edge to an elongated actuatinglever 195 which extends horizontally across substantially the entirewidth of the machine at a location beneath bed plate 26. Lever 195 ispivotally mounted to the frame at a central location 196 for swingingmovement about an essentially vertical axis. The left end of lever 195,as seen in Fig. 19, is yieldingly urged rearwardly, to move flange 193of part 129 rearwardly within tray 20, by a coil spring 197 which isattached at its opposite ends to lever 195 and a portion of the frame.

This left end of the lever 195 is actuated forwardly upon each leftwardmovement of horizontally movable carriage 75, by virtue of a camarrangement provided at the right end of lever 195. This cam structureincludes a roller 198 mounted to head of carriage part 77 for rotationabout a vertical axis, this roller being engageable with an adjustablecam element or extension 199 mounted to the right end of lever 195. Camelement 199 has a forwardly facing cam face 200, which extends at anangle such that leftward movement of the horizontal carriage 75 and itscarried roller 198 serves to cam element 200 and the right end of leverrearwardly, to thereby effect a forward slug shifting movement of thelever 195 and the slug engaging part 21. Cam element 199 is mounted tolever 195 by a screw 201, which allows forward and rearward swingingmovement of element 199 relative to lever 195 to effect an adjustment ofthe range of travel of part 21. The cam element 199 is held in anydesired adjusted position by an adjusting screw 202, which extendsthrough and threadedly engages an upturned car 203 on lever 195, andbears against the rear side of element 199 to limit its rearwardmovement relative to part 195 (see Figs. 18 and 19).

At the left end of lever 195, this lever may be pivotally connected to alink 204, whose lower end is pivoted at 205 to a suitable portion of theframe, to retain lever 195 in substantially a predetermined horizontalplane during its limited slug advancing swinging movement. The pivotalconnection at 196 must of course be sufliciently loose to allow forslight vertical movement of the left end of lever 195 during thehorizontal swinging movement, in view of the fact that the left end ofthe lever is connected to link 204. The forward movement of part 21 uponeach leftward movement of horizontal carriage 75 13 must of course besufficiently great to shift the r'earmost slug in tray 20 forwardly to aposition in which it will not be in the falling path of the next slugwhich will drop into the tray.

In using the present machine, it i desirable to make certain that underno possible circumstances can any of the slugs be run through themachine without perform ing a printing operation. For this purpose, Ihave provided a control system, which automatically stops the machine iffeed bar 13 commences to displace a slug to the left toward printingposition before a sheet of paper or other work material 16 has beenplaced in position on plate 15. This circuit includes a first electricswitch which is opened by placement of a sheet of paper on plate 15, anda second electric switch which is closed by movement of a slug towardprinting position, with these two switches being connected in series sothat if both are closed, a circuit is closed to stop the press.

The switch which is responsive to positioning of a paper on plate 15includes an electrical contact element 185 (Fig. 13) which is mounted byan electrically nonconductive member 186 to the upper side of plate 15,the attachment being effected by a screw 187 extending through member186 and threadedly connected into one of the openings 140 in plate 15.Contact 185 is resilient and yieldingly bears downwardly against plate15 to form an electrical connection therewith. This contact 185 is sopositioned on plate 15 that, when a sheet of work material on paper 16is placed in position against stops 142, the paper is received beneathcontact 185, to break the electrical connection between that contact andplate 15. In order to allow the paper to slip under contact 185, thiscontact may have an upwardly curving outer end portion 188. Contact 185is connected to an upper terminal 189 by a screw 190 extendingvertically through non-conductive member 186, and a wire 191 isconnected to terminal 189 to connect contact 185 into the electricalcontrol circuit in a manner to be brought out later. When guides 142 aremoved or adjusted to receive changed sizes of work sheets 16, member 186and contact 185 are correspondingly moved so that the work sheets whenthen placed in position on plate 15 will be certain to break the contactbetween element 185 and plate 15.

With reference now to Figs. 6, ll, 12 and 17, the electrical switchingapparatus which is responsive to slug movement includes a contactstructure 206, which is adapted to electrically engage and form acircuit through a slug as that slug is advanced to the left towardprinting position. Contact unit 206 includes an electricallynon-conductive body 207 which is attached, as by screws 208, to thelowermost portion and left side of chute side wall 31. Body 206 may beessentially rectangular, and terminate forwardly at a face 209 whichextends perpendicularly to bed plate 26 and is alined transversely ofthe machine with the lower or forward end of chute wall 31. At avertically central location, the non-conductive body 206 (typicallyformed of a suitable rigid resinous plastic material) contains a recessor groove 210, which extends rearwardly into body 206 from its forwardedge, and extends entirely across the width of body 206.

A relatively thin elongated electrical contact 150 is movably receivedwithin recess 210, and is yieldingly urged forwardly relative to body206 by a pair of coil springs 212 which bear against the rear edge ofcontact 150 and extend into bores 213 in body 206. A forward planarelongated surface 214 of electrical contact 150 acts to electricallyengage a slug 10 as the slug is moved to the left past contact structure206 and toward the printing location. This closes an electrical circuitfrom contact 150 through slug 10 to the frame of the machine, which iselectrically conductive and is connected to one side of a controlcircuit.

The forward movement of contact 150 is limited by i a pair of screws 215which are carried by and extend 14 vertically through and beyond contact150, and whose upper head portions are received within circular recesses216 in the upper portion of body 207. Recesses 216 are suflicientlylarge to allow limited forward and rearward movement of contact relativeto body 207, so that the contact 150 can be yieldingly retained incircuit closing engagement with the slug; 10' as the slug moves past thecontact. Since body 207 is carried by side wall 31 of slug feed chute12, the previously discussed forward and rearward adjusting movement ofWall 31 to allow for the handling of different sized slugs alsoautomatically adjusts the positioning of contact 150 for properelectrical engagement with the different sizes of slugs. Contact 150 mayof course be formed of any suitable electrically conductive material,typically brass. In order to prevent contact 150 from ever closing anelectrical circuit by engagement with feed bar 13, contact 150 issufficiently thin to be received within recesses 58 and 66 withoutengaging the feed bar, as the bar moves to the left past contact 150(even though no slug 10 is in recess 58).

Fig. 21 represents diagrammatically the electrical control circuit forthe press. In addition to the electrical components already discussed,this circuit includes a push button type start switch 217, a stop switch218, a main control switch 219, a power converter 220 for the electrical clutch, a transformer 221, and a start and stop control relay222. Power is supplied to the circuit through a pair of leads 223,typically at 110 volts A. C. Converter 220 acts to rectify and reducethe voltage of a portion of the current fed into the device throughleads 224, and to feed out from unit 220 and through contacts 108 and109 to the electric clutch 106, a direct current of proper voltage,usually about 90 volts. The input side 224 of the rectifying and voltagereducing unit 220 is connected to power supply 223 in series with themaincontrol switch 219 and the contacts of starting and stopping relay222. When switch 219 and. relay 222 are both closed, clutch 106 isenergized to drive the various moving parts of the apparatus. Breakingof this circuit at either switch 219 or relay 222 of course stops theoperating parts. Motor 96 is connected to power supply 223 in serieswith the main control switch 219, so that as long as switch 219 isclosed, the motor runs continuously.

Relay 222 is energized by the output from voltage reducing transformer221, whose input leads 225 are connected to power supply 223 in serieswith main control switch 219. The output of transformer 221 may be 24volts A. C. Relay 222 has two coils 226 and 227, the first of which actswhen energized to displace movable contact 228 of relay 222 to circuitclosing position to thereby energize clutch 106 and start the movingparts of the machine; and the second of which (coil 227) acts whenenergized to shift movable contact 228 to an open position, to therebyde-energize clutch 106 and stop the printing and slug shiftingmechanism. The starting coil 226 is connected to the output oftransformer 221 in series with start switch 217 through leads 229, 230and ground connections at 231 and 232. Similarly, the stop 'coil 227 ofrelay 222 is connected to the transformer output in series with stopswitch 218. Thus, by pressing the push button control of switch 217, anoperator closes the circuit to relay coil 226, to thereby close therelay contact 228 and energize clutch 106. This places the moving partsof the printing and slug displacing apparatus in operation (assuming themain switch 219 is closed). The closing of stop switch 218 energizescoil 227, to open the relay and stop the printing and slug shiftingapparatus. A second stopping circuit may be closed through thepreviously discussed paper and slug controlled contact elements and 150.For this purpose, a stop coil 227 of the relay 222 can be connected inseries with these contacts to the output of transformer 221 through acircuit including lead 191, contact 185, work supporting plate 15,conductors plate 15. If a paper is present, the auxiliary stop circuitis broken between Contact 185 and the work supporting plate 15, so thatthe apparatus will continue in operation. To describe now a cycle ofoperation of the machine,

assume that switch 219 is closed, and that motor 96 is thereforecontinuously operating. Also assume that clutch 106 is de-energized, sothat the motor is ineffective to drive the various slug feeding andprinting parts of the apparatus. A supply of slugs are of coursecontained within chute 12, and the lowermost one of these slugs ispreferably held in the non-feeding position of slug 10a in Fig. by meansof pins 48. With the slugs thus retained in positions in which theycannot be fed to the printing mechanism, the start switch 217 may beclosed to energize relay coil 226 and close contact 228 in a mannerclosing the supply circuit to rectifying and voltage reducing unit 220.This unit then energizes the clutch 106 to cause the motor to drivewheel 114 through reduction gear 107. As the wheel turns, say in acounterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 1, connecting rod 116 acts tohorizontally reciprocate carriage 75 along rails 76, and cam surface 172of wheel 114 acts through follower 173 to vertically reciprocate member151 and printing head 17. The horizontal movement of carriage 75 causesroller 18 to transfer ink from plate 19 to a lower group of the slugs inchute 12, to ink their upper printing faces. Simultaneously, theangularity of rollers 128 causes these rollers to alternatingly advancerearwardly and forwardly across ink plate 19, to distribute the inkevenly over the plate.

After the lower group of slugs within chute 12 have been inked in thismanner to 12 slugs usually being inked on each stroke), the operatorplaces a sheet of paper or cardboard 16 of predetermined size on plate15 against stops 142, with the paper being received beneath contact 185to break the circuit between that contact and plate 15. Next, theoperator swings control handle 50 (Fig. 16) downwardly to the full lineposition of that figure, to retract pins 48 downwardly and allow thesings in chute 12 to slide forwardly and downwardly into engagement withfeed bar 13. On the next leftward movement of the feed bar, theforwardmost slug is received within recess 58 of the feed bar and isdisplaced to the left with the bar. As the carried slug moves to theleft, it first engages contact 150, and then moves beyond that contactto deflect hook'62 and element 66'rearwardly, so that the slug may bereceived at the printing location between element 66 and recess 58 infeed bar 13. The engagement of the slug with contact 150 of course hasno effect unless the operator has failed to place the paper 16 on plate15, in which case engagement of the slug with contact 150 causes theslug advancement to immediately stop.

During the leftward movement of the slug and feed bar, printing head 17is retracted upwardly by spring 167 (Fig. 4), and the electricallynon-conductive roller 150 on head carried arm 151 acts also to hold aforward portion of work supporting plate 15 in an upwardly retractedposition (the full line position of Fig. 4). As the slug nears itsprinting position beneath aperture 14 in plate 15, cam surface 172 ofwheel 114 acts by virtue of its raised portion 184 to displace member151 downwardly, to correspondingly move printing head 17 and the forwardportion of plate 15 downwardly. When these parts reach their lowermostpositions, the printing head acts to press the paper 16 against theupper printing face of slug 10, which is at that time in lateralalinement with the upper surface of plate 15, to effect the desiredprinting operation. At this instant, the slug and feed bar 13 areentirely stationary, since the apparatus is so timed 16 that thepreviously mentioned slight amount of lost motion represented by gap 127in Fig. 3 occurs at the instant of printing. Further rotation of wheel114 after a printing operation acts to retract carriage and feed bar 13to the right, to engage the next successive slug 10 for feeding to theleft in the same manner as the firstdiscussed slug. The first slug isretained against retraction with the feed bar by means of book 62, andthe feeding of the second slug into printing position acts to displacethe first slug laterally to a position over recess 71 in the bed plate,to fall downwardly a short distance onto the upper surface of .portion192 of ejection part 21 (which is in a forward position when a slugfirst reaches the location of recess 71). During each rightward movementof carriage 75, part 21 moves rearwardly under the influence of spring197, and as permitted by movement of roller 198 to the right along thecam surface of element 199 (see Fig. 19). As part 21 is thus movedrearwardly beyond recess 71, the slug supported on upper portion 192 ofpart 21 (and positioned between parts 73 and 35) is freed to falldownwardly along the forward side-of portion 193 of part 21 and intotray 20 at a location behind the previously accumulated slugs. Upon eachleftward movement of carriage 75, the parts shown in Fig. 19 act toshift the previously accumulated used slugs forwardly in tray 20, byvirtue of the engagement of roller 198 with cam element 199, to swinglever 195 in a manner displacing slug engaging element 21 forwardly.

I claim:

1. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising achannel like guideway for holding a series of said cast slugs with saidfaces directed upwardly, a reciprocating feed bar moving transverselyacross an end of said guideway and acting on each reciprocation todisplace an end one of said slugs laterally from the guideway to alaterally offset printing location, an ink roller reciprocating withsaid feed bar and acting to engage and apply ink to said faces of theslugs while the latter are in the guideway, an ink supply member at aside of said guideway engageable by said roller to apply ink thereto, abase member along which said slugs are advanced by said feed bar, a worksupporting plate for holding a work sheet above a slug at said printinglocation, a printing head above said plate reciprocable toward and awayfrom a slug at said printing location to press said work sheetthereagainst, and power driven means for actuating said feed bar andsaid printing head.

2. A printing press as recited in claim 1, in which said guidewaycomprises an inclined chute along which said slugs advance toward alower end thereof, said base member comprising an inclined plate at saidlower end of the chute and extending transversely thereof, there being aguide member projecting upwardly along a lower portion of said basemember and along which said feed bar moves to displace the slugs.

3. A printing press as recited in claim 2, including a slug dischargebeneath and projecting horizontally beyond said base member at alocation laterally beyond said printing location in the direction ofslug advancement and into which each slug is advanced by movement of anext successive slug to said printing location, and means actuable intimed relation to said feed bar for intermittently advancing the slugsin said discharge tray.

4. A printing press as recited in claim 3, including a power driven camwheel, a cam follower engaging said wheel and reciprocating said head,means for retracting said work holding plate upwardly to pass a slug tosaid printing location upon upward movement of the head, and aconnecting rod eccentrically attached to said wheel and horizontallyreciprocating said feed bar.

5. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, andactuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slugat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, saidmagazine comprising a chute along which said slugs advance with theirprinting faces directed upwardly, said ink applying means comprising aroller moving across said printing faces of a leading group of saidslugs in the chute and applying ink thereto, and means for applying inkto said roller.

6. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, andactuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slugat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said slugadvancing means comprising a reciprocable feed member operable to engagea slug and displace it from said magazine to said printing location,there being means connecting said ink applying means to said feed memberfor movement therewith and along a path to engage and apply ink to saidslugs.

7. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, andactuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slugat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, saidmagazine comprising an inclined chute along which said slugs advancewith said faces thereof directed upwardly, said slug advancing meansincluding an elongated reciprocable feed bar extending and movingtransversely and generally horizontally across a lower end of said chuteand acting to dis place a leading slug laterally from the chute to saidprinting location, said ink applying means including an ink applyingroller connected to said feed bar for horizontal movement therewithbetween a position over said chute and in engagement with said faces ofthe slugs to apply ink thereto and a second position offset to a side ofthe slug, and an ink supply member at said second position engageable bysaid roller to apply ink thereto, and there being means forreciprocating said feed bar and roller together.

8. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of diiferent cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, andactuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slugat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said slugadvancing means comprising a reciprocating feed member operable todisplace a first slug laterally in a first direction from said magazinetoward said feed location and then return in an opposite direction topick up the next successive slug, and an element engageable with saidfirst slug for retaining it against returning movement in said oppositedirection with the feed member, there being a bed plate along an uppersurface of which said slugs are displaced laterally by said feed member,and said element comprising a hook member mounted for swinging movementabove and generally parallel to said bed plate surface and engageable inholding relation with a slug to retain it against said returningmovement.

9. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of ditferent cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for hold ing a series of said cast slugs, means for applyingink to said printing faces of said slugs, means for successivelyadvancing said slugs from said magazine to a printing location, meansfor holding one of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen,and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and aslug at said printing location toward and then away from each other witha work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, said workholding means comprising a plate on which a work sheet may be placed forprinting and containing an opening beneath which said slugs arepositioned when at said printing location, said platen being locatedabove said opening in said work supporting plate, said actuating meansbeing operable to displace said platen downwardly to press a work sheeton said plate against a slug at said printing location, .and there beingmeans for retracting said work supporting plate upwardly when saidplaten retracts upwardly and intimed relation to the movement of saidfeed bar to pass a slug to said printing location.

10. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, andactuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a singat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press said inkedprinting face of the slug into contact with the Work sheet, said workholding means comprising a plate on which a work sheet may be placed,there being means for actuating said plate between an active printingposition and a retracted position for passing a slug to said printinglocation.

11. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs fro-m said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said. work sheets at said printing location, a platen, actuatingmeans operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at saidprinting location toward and then away from each other with a work sheettherebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face ofthe slug into contact with the work sheet, and control means forpreventing the feeding of a slug through said press unless a work sheetis held 19 at said printing location by said work holding means, saidcontrol means including means responsive to the positioning of a worksheet at said printing location, said Work holding means comprising anelectrically conductive plate on which a work sheet is placed forprinting, said means responsive to positioning of a sheet at saidprinting location comprising an electrical contact engaging said plateand positioned so that a work sheet on the plate at said printinglocation is received between and breaks the electrical engagementbetween said contact and the plate.

12. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for holding a series of said cast slugs, means for applying inkto said printing faces of said slugs, means for successively advancingsaid slugs from said magazine to a printing location, means for holdingone of said work sheets at said printing location, a platen, actuatingmeans operable to relatively displace said platen and a slug at saidprintinglocation toward and then away from each other with a Work sheettherebetween and operable to thereby press said inked printing face ofthe slug into contact with the work sheet, and electrical control meansoperable to prevent the feeding of a slug through said press if a slugis advanced toward said printing location by said advancing means whileno Work sheet is held at the printing location by said work holdingmeans, said control means including a control circuit adapted to stopthe press when closed and comprising first contact means for closing aportion of said circuit in response to advancement of a slug toward saidprinting location, and additional contact means for closing anotherportion of said circuit and adapted to be opened by placement of a worksheet at said printing location.

13. A printing press as recited in claim 12, in which said first contactmeans comprise a resiliently deflectable contact engageable by a slug asit is advanced toward printing location by said slug advancing means,said work holding means comprising an electrically conductive plate onwhich a work sheet may be placed at said printing location, saidadditional contact means comprising an electrical contact engaging saidplate and positioned so that a work sheet on the plate at said printinglocation is received between and breaks the electrical engagement withsaid plate.

14. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for bold ing a series of said cast slugs, means forsuccessively advancing said slugs from said magazine to a printinglocation, a movable support for holding one of said work sheets at saidprinting location, a platen, actuating means operable to relativelydisplace said platen and a slug at said printing location toward andthen away from each other with a work sheet therebetween to print on thesheet, and means for moving said work holding support in timed relationto the operation of said Slug advancing means and between an activeprinting position and a retracted position for passing a slug to saidprinting location, said work holding support comprising a support platehaving an upper surface on which a work sheet may be placed forprinting, said plate containing an opening beneath which said slugs arepositioned when at said printing location and into which said slugsproject upwardly when at said printing location.

15. A printing press as recited in claim 14, in which said means formoving said support plate actuate the plate upwardly to a position inwhich a slug at said printing location does not project into saidopening in the plate, said slug advancing means being constructed toadvance the slugs essentially horizontally beneath said plate and tosaid printing location.

16. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of thecharacter described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for hold-- inga series of said cast slugs, means for applyingink. to said printing faces of said slugs, means for succes-- :sivelyadvancing said slugs from said magazine to a. printing location, meansfor holding one of said work: sheets at said printing location, aplaten, and actuating means operable to relatively displace said platenand a slug at said printing location toward and then away from eachother with a work sheet therebetween and operable to thereby press saidinked printing face of the slug into contact with the work sheet, saidslug advancing means comprising a reciprocating feed member operable todisplace a first slug laterally in a first direction from said magazinetoward said feed location and then return in an opposite direction topick up the next successive slug, and a movable hook member engageablewith said first slug in a holding relation for retaining the slugagainst returning movement in said opposite direction with the feedmember.

17. A printing press for printing on a series of work sheets with aseries of different cast slugs of the character described each having aface with printing impressions cast thereon; said press comprising amagazine for bolding a series of said cast slugs, a reciprocating feedmember operable to successively advance said slugs from said magazine toa printing location, means for holding one of said work sheets at saidprinting location, a platen,

' actuating means operable to relatively displace said platen and a slugat said printing location toward and then away from each other with awork sheet therebetween to print on the sheet, and electrical controlmeans operable to automatically halt the feeding of a slug toward saidprinting location in the event that none of said work sheets is presentat said printing location, said control means including a first switchwhich is responsive to the presence of a work sheet at said printinglocation, and including additional electric switch means automaticallyresponsive to advancement of a slug by said feed member toward saidprinting location but not responsive to advancement of said feed memberwithout a slug.

18. A printing press as recited in claim 17, in which said switch meansinclude a contact positioned to be electrically contacted in a circuitclosing relation by a slug as it is advanced by said feed member, saidfeed member being constructed to avoid electrical engagement with saidcontact during reciprocation of the feed member.

19. A printing press as recited in claim 18, in which said feed membercontains a recess into which a slug fits during advancement of the slugby said member, said member having a portion trailing said recess andhaving a recess extending along one side into which said contactprojects during advancement of a slug by said member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,200,661 Smith Oct. 10, 1916 1,564,221 Duncan Dec. 8, 1925 1,623,542Johnson Apr. 5, 1927 1,765,859 Bartel June 24, 1930 1,768,917 McCainJuly 1, 1930 1,769,138 Johnson July 1, 1930 1,786,251 Kohler Dec. 23,1930 2,002,773 Gollwitzer May 28, 1935 2,035,695 Elliott Mar. 31, 19362,594,166 Hennink Apr. 22, 1952 2,705,143 Greenwood Mar. 29, 19552,705,917 Ganio Apr. 12, 1955 2,744,347 Verzera May 8, 1956

